damon white

[mik]

Will he leave the club if he doesnt get a game for the rest of the year?

the bottom line is that he should be getting a game, and hes not, so whats keeping him at alberton???

does anyone know him?

i know all us port supporters on here want to see damon get a game, but its really getting beyond a joke now.

what can be done, keeping in mind the selection panel dont want to play him.

[Porthos]

I look forward to an explanation from Rucci tomorrow.

[mik]

ah good old rucci... always insightful he is

[PortProudWA]

Will he leave the club if he doesnt get a game for the rest of the year?

the bottom line is that he should be getting a game, and hes not, so whats keeping him at alberton???

does anyone know him?

i know all us port supporters on here want to see damon get a game, but its really getting beyond a joke now.

what can be done, keeping in mind the selection panel dont want to play him.


The Eagles and Dockers are both interested in him :( . He's a great kid, has work hard to make it, comes from the Wheatbelt .........I know all us Port Supporters in WA will be p!$$ed off if we loose him. He is one of our lads we sponsor!!!!!
He would fit in well for the Eagles :( .....When does he come out of contract??

[Porthos]

This year. He signed a one-year deal last year.

[PJ Power]

I look forward to an explanation from Rucci tomorrow.


Rucci?

He hasn't questioned a thing Choco has done all year.

This is the only place I have seen or heard any criticism of anything that is Choco.

I don't know if it says something about us (Doddy would argue that it does), or if it says that the rest of the observing footy world are in slumber-land and are spineless.



When I called 5AA 3 weeks ago post the Essendon game, and specifically mentioned that almost all of us would select White before Cochrane, there was hardly any response.


Porthos, we can't look to the outside world for explanations, it has to come from within. The truth will be found if you look to your heart. ;)

[PortProudWA]

This year. He signed a one-year deal last year.


$%@!*&$ #!)&^% :( :mad:

[mik]

if hes out of contract this year, then its over..

unless he really loves the club (aka tredders), or wants to stay with mates, i cant see a reason for him to stay (from HIS point of view)..

if hes reading this.....PLEASE STAY...

but i feel all is nearly lost...unless the wind changes, and choco all of a sudden sees his value over cochrane and a few others.

i think that a few leaders should go up to choco and tell him to play damon..or at least try..cos nothing else is working!!!!!!!!

[Paralowiepower]

I have never questioned choco, well not for awhile anyway, but to give Tredders a weeks rest before finals, ala Wilbur and Brogan would be a blessing. If not physically but mentally too. There is no reason what so ever to risk Tredders Friday night. And what if White is needed for finals ( he should be there anyway) a run on the MCG in front of a good crowd would of benifited him greatly. What is Choco thinking?

[mik]

What is Choco thinking?

hes not

[Jabsy]

I reckon he'll re-sign at the end of the year. Dont forget we carried him for a while during his ankle injuries, when we could have easily ditched him. I doubt he'll forget.

He's had some opportunities this year and impressed a lot. Hopefully he travels to Melbourne, as the Pawnbroker is far from a dead cert anyway. I reckon he'll most like;y get a game, and Tredders can drink beer with me on the sidelines.

[Arsene Wenger]

He gets plenty of support from the players -- and alot of them do want him in i have heard but what can u do ?

[Port1978]

I know all us Port Supporters in WA will be p!$$ed off if we loose him. He is one of our lads we sponsor!!!!!


You got that right....we don't wanna lose him!!!!! :(

[PortProudWA]

I have never questioned choco, well not for awhile anyway, but to give Tredders a weeks rest before finals, ala Wilbur and Brogan would be a blessing. If not physically but mentally too. There is no reason what so ever to risk Tredders Friday night. And what if White is needed for finals ( he should be there anyway) a run on the MCG in front of a good crowd would of benifited him greatly. What is Choco thinking?

Well went to bed thinking about this, maybe Choco thinks Tredders need to get another feel of the MCG before the finals?? As we all know we havnt played our best there. Maybe Whitey will play?

I reckon he'll re-sign at the end of the year. Dont forget we carried him for a while during his ankle injuries, when we could have easily ditched him. I doubt he'll forget.

He's had some opportunities this year and impressed a lot. Hopefully he travels to Melbourne, as the Pawnbroker is far from a dead cert anyway. I reckon he'll most like;y get a game, and Tredders can drink beer with me on the sidelines.

And I think Jabsy may be a bit on the money here. We have nursed Whitey though some tough hard years, when other clubs would have ditched him. And he has come into the team this year. If we hadnt had injuries like we have had, I wonder if he would have fitted in at all??

Maybe he is setting up the team for finals structure??




But then again, who the F@rk knows :confused: . I gotta go to work, just better friggin win tonight now!! And if Tredders, Brog's or Wilbur hurt them selves further before the finals.............. :mad:

[kaysee]

Will he leave the club if he doesnt get a game for the rest of the year?

the bottom line is that he should be getting a game, and hes not, so whats keeping him at alberton???

does anyone know him?



Apparently the word from people within the club is that Damon will remain loyal to Port Adelaide because they have shown loyalty to him while he was injured for the last 2 years. He feels he really owes the club and is keen to repay their faith, but I have only heard this 2nd or 3rd hand.

Someone has also mention how apparently both Cassissi and Damon want to play their entire careers at Port and be 1 club players. I am not sure how much truth is in this.

Cheers
SKC

[portentous]

Rucci?

He hasn't questioned a thing Choco has done all year.

This is the only place I have seen or heard any criticism of anything that is Choco.

I don't know if it says something about us (Doddy would argue that it does), or if it says that the rest of the observing footy world are in slumber-land and are spineless.

I think it's because we're all passionate and understand that the club has underachieved in the past. Our frustration at past results means we demand changes be made. Unfortunately, at the minute, it appears to be more of the same old sh**. Time will tell I guess.

Doddy is off in the land of teeny boppers and lemmings anyway... :D

[Porthos]

ACTING Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea will play against Collingwood at the MCG tonight as Power coach Mark Williams threw caution aside at selection yesterday. Or so Port says.

Williams last night surprisingly kept Tredrea in his 22 despite the sprain to the AC joint of Tredrea's right shoulder early in last Saturday night's thumping of the Western Bulldogs in Darwin.
Williams also recalled, after a two-match absence, ruckman Dean Brogan (ribs) and half-forward Byron Pickett (knee) in a clear audition of Port's preferred finals line-up.

Tredrea's selection last night defied expectations of the All-Australian centre half-forward resting his tender right shoulder to resume in Showdown XVI against Adelaide on Sunday week – a match that had the "sold-out" sign put up yesterday.

Caution, however, was shown with defender Jared Poulton who has a tight hamstring this week. But the two axings to make way for Brogan and Pickett send a message – demanding more – to rookie forward Damon White and, more so, to long-kicking forward Stuart Dew.

Enlightening.

Tredders + midget forward line + resting ruckman = premiership.

If only we had the Pagan game plan to go with it.

[gundy]

When I called 5AA 3 weeks ago post the Essendon game, and specifically mentioned that almost all of us would select White before Cochrane, there was hardly any response.

I'm a big fan of White and don't think much of the roach (had some good games last year but has been very average this year) but I don't believe you can swap the two. It's not just a simple matter of naming the best 22 players.

IMHO White is just unlucky with Lade in excellent form and Brogan coming back in that he becomes a surplus tall forward. The dilemma the selection committee would have faced would have been not whether to pick White or Cochrane but more likely White or Thurstans. Thurstans would win out because he can play as a tall forward, a tall defender or help out in the ruck.

White is only 21 and I certainly hope he stays with Port as he has a big future.

[Port01]

I'm a big fan of White and don't think much of the roach (had some good games last year but has been very average this year) but I don't believe you can swap the two. It's not just a simple matter of naming the best 22 players.

IMHO White is just unlucky with Lade in excellent form and Brogan coming back in that he becomes a surplus tall forward. The dilemma the selection committee would have faced would have been not whether to pick White or Cochrane but more likely White or Thurstans. Thurstans would win out because he can play as a tall forward, a tall defender or help out in the ruck.

White is only 21 and I certainly hope he stays with Port as he has a big future.

Playing the 2 ruckman off the bench, where they both play their best football, leaves room for 3 tall forwards. It is absolutely no surprise to me that Lade has dominated when being run through the midfield, across half back and resting on the bench. People say he steps up when needed, really, he steps up when he is played as a ruckman rather than a psuedo-forward. He even kicks and creates more goals as a ruckman than as a forward.

[Ford Fairlane]

I'm a big fan of White and don't think much of the roach (had some good games last year but has been very average this year) but I don't believe you can swap the two. It's not just a simple matter of naming the best 22 players.

IMHO White is just unlucky with Lade in excellent form and Brogan coming back in that he becomes a surplus tall forward. The dilemma the selection committee would have faced would have been not whether to pick White or Cochrane but more likely White or Thurstans. Thurstans would win out because he can play as a tall forward, a tall defender or help out in the ruck.

White is only 21 and I certainly hope he stays with Port as he has a big future.

Now this discussion point I know well, cos I ran something like it before the Essendon game. And there are a couple of significant counterpoints.

One, the team structure assumes no risk management of talls. Choco likes to play 7 talls - 3 talls forward (2 KPPs and 1 resting ruck) and 3 talls back. One tall rucks and swaps in the forward pocket. If one tall goes down the system is thrown out of kilter. Against Essendon Cornes and Brogan went down. Cornes had to stay on and Lade had to ruck, leaving 2 tall forwards. Slow movement of the ball forward made it easy for Essendon to tag team Tredrea. Choco's brother was also the guy who went into the 1997 GF with one ruckman (Chalmers) who was injured early on and Port were stuffed against Keating and Eastaugh. Tredrea wound up in ruck that day. So the Williamses don't like extra talls and they like working Warren over.

Two, the current forward structure - as Porthos pointed out to me - means Lade draws a big tall down back to him. Lade is not particularly mobile so can't take a player away from Warren, and often WGT winds up going up in packs of 4 big men. White draws a player away from Warren. The Melbourne game was a great example.

before the Essendon game I could understand their thinking. Telstradome is hard on the runners and Choco was trying to keep them fresh by having plenty of rotations - plus we had a couple that were underdone. But that was 3 weeks ago and I don't think it's as big an issue now, even allowing for the Darwin game. Although it is interesting that the 2 guys I'd think would have suffered most in the conditions were the ones who made way.

[PAfolwr]

Playing the 2 ruckman off the bench, where they both play their best football, leaves room for 3 tall forwards. It is absolutely no surprise to me that Lade has dominated when being run through the midfield, across half back and resting on the bench. People say he steps up when needed, really, he steps up when he is played as a ruckman rather than a psuedo-forward. He even kicks and creates more goals as a ruckman than as a forward.
Yep.

[beenreal]

We're sitting second on percentage and there's all this negativity.

Warren Treadrea
If we are to take top spot AND a guaranteed home final then we have to keep winning AND boosting our percentage. That means playing Treadrea at the MCG.

The Game Plan
Anyone going to the game can see an obvious change in the way we are playing. More handball out of our backlines, means more quick movement of the ball, putting the opposition defence under more pressure when the long kick comes in. And I love watching Chad Cornes kicking long to Warren Treadrea.

[_espoir]

Two, the current forward structure - as Porthos pointed out to me - means Lade draws a big tall down back to him. Lade is not particularly mobile so can't take a player away from Warren, and often WGT winds up going up in packs of 4 big men. White draws a player away from Warren. The Melbourne game was a great example.


Which was allowing Tredrea to move more freely. IMO thats why White needs to be played, allowing Tredrea to not be in so many packs able to have room to move and dish off many.

Although when Tredrea did his shoulder he didn't look in very much pain or discomfort. Maybe he is okay, maybe the coaching staff believe he can cope. Lets just pull out the "I told you so" comments if anything does happen. We'll yet again shake our heads at the omitting of White.

[PAfolwr]

We're sitting second on percentage and there's all this negativity.
...

What negativity is that?
We have had a team good enough to win a premiership for a few years now, and we have achieved nothing. Not even close.
Clubs with teams far worse than ours have eventually finished higher on the ladder than we have.
This year we again have a team good enough to win the premiership. Perhaps our best chance yet. We are all positive and eagerly awaiting for the finals to start.

The only thing is that most of us would feel more comfortable if we did play three specialist forwards, as apart from what has been debated countlessly in the past, it would also give us an indication that we will be tackling this year's finals series with a positive attitude rather than the negative, defensive and good for nothing one we have had to endure for the last few years.

Anyway, let the finals begin.

[Poet from Port]

It is quite clear that Damon is a rung down on the selection ladder. Suffice to say that if all of Tredrea, Brogan, Lade, Thurstans and White are available, then for Williams it will always be White who is omitted. This must be very clear to White.

With the above in mind, and with an insight to a future where a Mr Matthew Primus returns injury free, it must further dictates that Damon will find himself two rungs below selection. The only way he will remain one rung below selection will be at the misfortune of an unlucky Lade. Even if injury came to bare on Thurstans, I would envisage that Lade would come in to act as a permanent forward before White.

I therefore (painfully) conclude that 2005 (and beyond given a good run with injuries to the tall timber) will find Damon further on the outer. The question that must therefore be asked is:

"While Williams is at the helm does it not follow that Damon will remain a fringe player until retirements (or further long term injuries) occur?"

I feal the answer is YES. :(

[Poet from Port]

If we are to take top spot AND a guaranteed home final then we have to keep winning AND boosting our percentage. That means playing Treadrea at the MCG.



Percentage is irrelevant if we win both our remaining games by one point and Brisbane beat St Kilda...

[Jars458]

We will give you our second round pick for him.

[Eddie Woloschek]

We're sitting second on percentage and there's all this negativity.



Here's some more negativity for ya . . . Tredrea won't play, we'll lose, and Choco will look into the camera and blame the loss on Poulton's tight 'string. Port Adelaide made Mark Williams but he behaves as if he absorbed the losing culture at Collingwood and Brisbane, or was it just the time spent with Doug Thomas? Port has the respect of the supporters of the 15 other clubs. Now the hard part. Look the Alberton faithful in the eye and make us believe. Won't happen. Not with this coach.

Now that Stewie Visser-Dew is back at the Dogs, they will play him on the wing where he doesn't need to do u-turns, he can kick 60 metre bombs, etc, etc, all the things he's good at. Why does Choco play Dew or Junior in the FP when they are just not suited to it? Why? Why? Why?

[Porthos]

We will give you our second round pick for him.
I'd rather be laughed at by West Coast once or twice a year than by Adelaide every week.

[Pred]

Playing the 2 ruckman off the bench, where they both play their best football, leaves room for 3 tall forwards.But it also cuts our rotations down to having only 3 on the bench + ruckman, not 4.


Perhaps we should re-name this board the Damon White Board.

[Porthos]

But it also cuts our rotations down to having only 3 on the bench + ruckman, not 4.Is that actually a problem?

[beenreal]

Look at the Schedule; we play tonight and St Kilda play Sunday, so unless someone out there has a crystal ball, Tredrea stays.

Last I looked, Junior was playing very well in the backlines.

With his current level of fitness, the only place I would be playing Stewie Dew is in the forward pocket.

Damon White is only 21 and will not play finals, but I would be VERY surprised if he leaves, (see Toby Thurstans). He takes a good mark and reads the ball exceptionally well, but at this stage, lacks the composure necessary to play good finals football.

Not that it matters, because he's the coach and I'm a believer, but with so many "quality" choices out there, who would Eddie Wolonschek choose to lead us?

[PJ Power]

But it also cuts our rotations down to having only 3 on the bench + ruckman, not 4.


Perhaps we should re-name this board the Damon White Board.

We do not need 4 small midfielders on the bench.

We have a mobile CHB who accumulates more touches than any other midfielder in our team. We have a BP (Bishop) who can play on smalls and talls.
We have so many midfield, HB and HF options from the following players:

Mahoney,
Cassisi,
James,
Burgoynes x2
Wangas
Pickett
Wilson
Monty
Kane Cornes
Carr
Schofield
Hardwick
Kingsley

In that very flexible group of players are at least five players with "run-with"/tagging experience.


Why the hell, do we need four smalls on the bench.

If we had four smalls go down in a match, I still wouldn't want Cochrane on the ground. I would favour Ebert, Surjan, Salopek or Dew over him.


That is called an overkill.



YES: Let's rename this the Damon White board.

[Andre]

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* Oh the joy. I'll just be having sooo much fun cheering the help Cochrane gives the team tonight. :rolleyes: FFS Choco. What is it with not playing three tall forwards ? I know people say we have Brogan or Lade go forward, but when we have Brogan drop back in defense no one ever thinks of dropping Bishop or Wakelin so we only have two tall backs and a resting ruckman there - why is the forward line any different ? :confused: 15 smalls or 14 smalls - what difference does it make ? Especially with Cochrane the 15th small. Given the 15th small plays probably 80 - 100 minutes a game amongst the other 14 smalls that's an extra 2 or 3 minutes a quarter to be picked up by them. This is worth Tredrea being double or triple teamed and subsequently our small forwards cut out of it and the ball going straight back out of our forward line down to the oppositions 50 metre area ??!?!?! Christ if I had any incriminating info. on Choco I'd be giving it to one D. White ASAP. If Tredrea is injured tonight or our forward line is totally disfunctional I'll be tempted to break into the Port coaches box and throw a bucket of White paint at Choco and hope that him stumbling around all week saying 'White, White, White everywhere' will be taken by the selection committee to mean play Damon White. :D

[PJ Power]

Damon White is only 21 and will not play finals, but I would be VERY surprised if he leaves, (see Toby Thurstans). He takes a good mark and reads the ball exceptionally well, but at this stage, lacks the composure necessary to play good finals football.




Big call to suggest Damon lacks composure.

Wasn't really overshadowed by Rivers or Grant in the last two weeks.

Had some very nice clever scoring assists with centering passes and snaps around the corner as well.

If you mean that he doesn't have the gametime experience against stronger opposition, that is really only because Choco passed on the opportunity to play him in the middle part of the season against Freo, Swans, Lions and Saints when his form at SANFL warranted it.

I suspect if you question Damon's composure, you would be pretty hard on Cochrane's composure "beenreal". Stuey seems to handle the footy like a hot potato every time it comes to him. Often he handballs about .5m to a teammate standing still or facing backwards. When he gets the footy in the clear he rarely runs far with it. Rather he just kicks long often without looking. Not uncommonly he snaps the footy out of our defensive 50 straight to an opponent who has created a defensive wall across HB.
Doesn't kick goals either considering his valuable role as one of our running players.


I just don't understand why the same guys are always the "unlucky" ones when it comes to being dropped. If Choco gave us a valid and understandable reason for his decisions at selection, maybe we would understand how the great man reasons and get off his back.



And Pred, the only reason so many of us defend Damon's right to be selected, is because he doesn't seem to be judged fairly by the coaches if you use the same criteria as the other players.
If the guy got out there and had no idea or let his opponent destroy us from HB, then by all means drop him. But he has done something decent everytime he has gotten an opportunity. Can't normally say that about young players.

[beenreal]

Rivers or Grant? Hmmm, let's see, both players in teams that were getting MASSIVELY thumped by Port Adelaide. Even then, Damon White ran into a shot for goal from a near impossible angle (missed), but didn't have the experience/composure/peripheral vision, (call it whatever you want), to see Peter Burgoyne standing 20 metres out by himself. That sort of inexperience will cost you a final. I'm not ready to take that chance, when Damon will get plenty down the track.

Stuart Cochrane has his limitations, but plays his role in the team very well. Bet he plays on Buckley tonight and I'll bet he curtails him.

In closing, good players fighting for positions is what makes good teams, it's called depth. Ask yourselves, would Adam Cooney get a game with Port Adelaide this year?

[portentous]

Are you related to Cochrane somehow beenreal? How is Whitey going to learn anything playing in the SANFL with North?? This was an ideal opportunity to expose him to a big game on the MCG in front of a big crowd. Why wouldn't you take it?? Not only are we risking Tredders on the eve of finals BUT we're also taking away his support. He goes in "suspect" PLUS will have 2 or 3 defenders jumping all over him which would not happen if White played.

It just doesn't make sense......

[beenreal]

Maybe I am Stuart Cochrane... ?

Playing Damon tonight instead of Tredrea gets back to my original point. We have to keep winning to get top spot and guarantee ourselves a home final.

[Porthos]

Rivers or Grant? Hmmm, let's see, both players in teams that were getting MASSIVELY thumped by Port Adelaide. Even then, Damon White ran into a shot for goal from a near impossible angle (missed), but didn't have the experience/composure/peripheral vision, (call it whatever you want), to see Peter Burgoyne standing 20 metres out by himself. That sort of inexperience will cost you a final.So will desperately looking for an option when running into goal when you should be taking the responsibility on yourself to kick the goal.

Stuart Cochrane has his limitations, but plays his role in the team very well. Bet he plays on Buckley tonight and I'll bet he curtails him.Cornes will play on Buckley, and if Roach plays on Buckley and doesn't curtail him, then he's been given a bath as he brings nothing to the table creatively.

In closing, good players fighting for positions is what makes good teams, it's called depth.Strangely, I only see certain players fighting for positions. Thats called biased selection, or `picking your mates'. What did Pickett do before he was injured that was so much better than Dew's form last week?

Ask yourselves, would Adam Cooney get a game with Port Adelaide this year?Probably. Mahoney did.

[portentous]

Maybe I am Stuart Cochrane... ?

Playing Damon tonight instead of Tredrea gets back to my original point. We have to keep winning to get top spot and guarantee ourselves a home final.

But it shouldn't be "instead of" it should be IN ADDITION TO....... :mad:

And IF Cornes doesn't do the job on Buckley, then Cassisi will. Either way both of them will get far more touches than Cochrane EVER does.

[PJ Power]

Rivers or Grant? Hmmm, let's see, both players in teams that were getting MASSIVELY thumped by Port Adelaide. Even then, Damon White ran into a shot for goal from a near impossible angle (missed), but didn't have the experience/composure/peripheral vision, (call it whatever you want), to see Peter Burgoyne standing 20 metres out by himself. That sort of inexperience will cost you a final. I'm not ready to take that chance, when Damon will get plenty down the track.




I think that is being pretty tough mate. One incident carefully highlighted. Did it occur to you that the following week against the Bullies in the second term he had a similar situation confronting him. Schofield handballed to him in that pocket, looked like he might have had a shot at goal, but brilliantly looked inboard and centred to Kingers. Hmmmmmmmmm.........I wonder if he learned from that incident the week earlier. No, he is too young and not composed enough to give him the benefit of that doubt is he?
Is it also possible that Damon contributed just a little to those good results, or was he totally passive in benefiting from his teammates good play.


And if you think Cochrane has tagged well this year, remind me of exactly which players he has effectively shutdown.
Using your argument about playing in sides that win easily:
Bowden got 40 touches standing Cochrane in round whatever - when the Tigers lost by 80+ points.

Mate, at the very least if you don't want White in the side, please consider other alterntatives to Cochrane. Even Poulton or Dew offer more IMO.

[Porthos]

I would also like to point out that Jack Cahill was never afraid of asking a talented rookie to do a big job.

[Pred]

Is that actually a problem?Depends on the engine room of the opposition team. There are definitely situations where a lot of midfield rotations to keep them fresh work very well.

My point is that if you are going to play your ruckmen off the bench, it limits the flexibility of the use of the bench. I guess it's something that can be assessed and changed during the course of a game. If our key forward(s) are going fine, and the midfield are delivering fine, no problem playing both ruckmen off the bench. If the forwards are doing fine when the ball gets down there, but it's not getting there enough, there's obviously more of a case for wanting more bench time for your midfield rotations.

[Pred]

What did Pickett do before he was injured that was so much better than Dew's form last week?Doesn't have to be 'so much' better, just better. He took players out, and injected fear into whichever part of the ground he ran for a radius of about 30m, while Stuey ran around bouncing off opponents like the Michelin man. Given Byron or Stuey in comparable form, I would choose Byron every time. He has more classic Port Adelaide grunt.

You won't catch me defending Cochrane's selection, however. A complete mystery, one which I hope is solved sooner rather than later.

[Pred]

We do not need 4 small midfielders on the bench.

We have a mobile CHB who accumulates more touches than any other midfielder in our team. We have a BP (Bishop) who can play on smalls and talls.
We have so many midfield, HB and HF options from the following players:

[Long list]

In that very flexible group of players are at least five players with "run-with"/tagging experience.


Why the hell, do we need four smalls on the bench.

If we had four smalls go down in a match, I still wouldn't want Cochrane on the ground. I would favour Ebert, Surjan, Salopek or Dew over him.
If you're going to semi-quote me, do it accurately. I didn't say thou shalt always have 4 small midfielders on the bench, I said having a RUCKMAN [note, not being a ruckman does not make one a 'small'], limits the flxibility of the bench.

I also further clarified my views on that in a post above this one.

Also note that I did not refer to Cochrane in my original post.

And no, let's not. He's a good young tall player with plenty of promise, not the second coming of Jesus Christ.

[Porthos]

Not unless the second coming of Jesus Christ is also the 10th avatar of Vishnu.

[dyertribe]

*Ceases work on matching "It'll be all White on the night" avatar, placard and dufflecoat*

Choco, choco, choco. :(

[PJ Power]

[QUOTE=Pred]If you're going to semi-quote me, do it accurately. I didn't say thou shalt always have 4 small midfielders on the bench, I said having a RUCKMAN [note, not being a ruckman does not make one a 'small'], limits the flxibility of the bench.

QUOTE]

Whether the second ruckman is played on the bench or out of a FP - we are afforded the same degree of lack of flexibility by choosing two ruckmen. If anything we are at least lucky that Ladey can go forward as an alternate option if our preferred lineup of tall forwards (for me: T + T + W) does not hold-up on any given day.

I don't see it so much as a question of which players are on the bench and which are on the ground.

I think of it as a case of in our 22, we have 15 runners + 7 talls/KPP or 14 runners + 8 talls/KPP.
Reality dictates that if we take the latter approach, then yes 7 talls will be on the ground and 1 on the bench.


Having 14 vs 15 runners does not limit our flexibility in my opinion. Not when the 14 smaller players we have are in themselves a pretty flexible group.

I am sorry if I misquoted you.

I was joking about naming this the Damon White board.

It's just that I honestly think our best chance of a flag is with him in the 22. No more than that.

[portly]

If we have our best team on the ground then Damon is unlikely to be a part of that team. At present he is still learning about the AFL, but I don't see this time of the year as being a practice time. He will improve next year. I don't have a problem with him being dropped

Except that

I also don't see that Stuart C is adding much to the team, particularly lately. If he tags Buckley out of the game tonight then I will accept that he has earned his spot. At the moment I will trust Mark's judgement, even though my big criticism of Mark in the last two years is that he has been too defensive. And including Cochrane instead of White is definitely being defensive minded.

[sog35]

If we have our best team on the ground then Damon is unlikely to be a part of that team. At present he is still learning about the AFL, but I don't see this time of the year as being a practice time. He will improve next year. I don't have a problem with him being dropped

Except that

I also don't see that Stuart C is adding much to the team, particularly lately. If he tags Buckley out of the game tonight then I will accept that he has earned his spot. At the moment I will trust Mark's judgement, even though my big criticism of Mark in the last two years is that he has been too defensive. And including Cochrane instead of White is definitely being defensive minded.
Can't say we missed White tonight, but can't say we really got a whole lot from the Roach. Buckley was around the mark but didn't really stand out.

[Andre]

Can't say we missed White tonight, but can't say we really got a whole lot from the Roach. Buckley was around the mark but didn't really stand out.
We didn't miss White with Presti not coming up for the Pies. It was a great win, but if they'd had Wakelin and Presti playing Tredrea wouldn't have had the latitude to run riot that he did. Unfortunately I see the coaching panel forgetting that and keeping White out of the side. White would have been better value then Mr. 5 touches Stuey C. Buckley was at CHF on Chad of all players more then any other. I don't know who's Cochrane opponent was the 30 odd minutes he was on the ground.

[Ford Fairlane]

I don't know who's Cochrane opponent was the 30 odd minutes he was on the ground.

You're one up on me - I didn't even know he was on for 30 minutes. The only time I noticed him was when he kicked that goal (surely worth votes?) and when he was Brogan's agony aunt on the sidelines. Mind u he didn't really seemed to be tuned in to Brogan's rant. At least Roger had the decency to nod and smile like he was paying attention.

[sog35]

Perhaps it's time for him to have a run with Centrals.

[dyertribe]

Perhaps it's time for him to have a run with Centrals.

A September tilt at Lizbef would suit him down to the ground.

[beenreal]

Let's just close out this Cochrane thread by saying, read the best players from Friday night?

[Porthos]

Hilarious, isn't it Rucc. You get away with murder.

[Eago77]

Could White come in for Brogan?

Just a though, Lade is playing great footy, Thrust can back him up for 5-10 minutes a quarter and White can play up forward with Tredders all game with Thrust spending some time up there as well. Obviously if Lade gets injured during a game we're buggered, but is Brogan really giving us much?

[Andre]

Could White come in for Brogan?

Just a though, Lade is playing great footy, Thrust can back him up for 5-10 minutes a quarter and White can play up forward with Tredders all game with Thrust spending some time up there as well. Obviously if Lade gets injured during a game we're buggered, but is Brogan really giving us much?
Lade is in form and should be first ruck, but even ruckman in form need support. Brogan coming on at the end of quarters - or dropping back in defense - which he does well - is enough to hold a spot. I'd like White in, but at the expense of one of our 15 smalls, not one of our 7 talls.

[mik]

i know i may get shot down for this, but ONE thing stuey has going for him is the fact that he just chucks the ball onto his boot, and gets it out of the area....yes, i realise that he sometimes kicks it to opposition, but at least he gets rid of the ball....one thing that has been really annoying me lately is those (mainly P burger and joe Scho) who try to do to much, and get caught holding it..
i'll admit the two mentioned have improved on this, but sometimes they should use the first option, instead of trying to run through a 10 man pack.

i'm not saying that cocky would be a better inclusion than those two, but its one thing he has as an advantage...no matter how little it is :)

PS.. i can admit that i was too hard on the selection panel last week..as tredders was a MUST for friday night....i didnt see it during the week, but now i do.....and maybe it would be better having a prepared 'with white' gameplan for next year, instead of messing around with it in finals...

but toby needs to do more when in the forward line..hes not taking a defender away from warren

[PJ Power]

Toby was just too soft too often. He should play every game with the attitude and application of his match against Freo. Against Freo he was actually on a fair opponent in Hadrill. Against Collingwood he couldn't exploit Lonie's lack of height.

I just don't think Toby has been stretched this year to play better. Who knows what demands are being put on him. People within the inner sanctum just seem content that he is a better or more developed player than Damon. While that should be the case based on SANFL experience it doesn't seem to be.

[Eago77]

In hindsight, maybe Dropping the Thrust at some stage of the season would have been a good move.